That didn’t sit well with the Wildcats of Manhattan, Kan. after the game, but Calipari said it was a simple matter of circumstances as K-State was wildly celebrating its berth in the Elite Eight.

Others at Phillips Arena said this was less the Bad Boy Pistons storming off after finally being beaten by Jordan’s Bulls and more something close to what Calipari described as K-State rushed to celebrate with purple-clad supporters in the stands.

What’s more, Kentucky players and staff were shown on television shaking the hands of K-State coaches including K-State head coach Bruce Weber.

There were several false reports last night that our players didn’t shake hands after the game. Our student-athletes did shake hands with the K-State staff while the team was celebrating. Good luck to @KStateMBB and @RamblersMBB in the Elite Eight. pic.twitter.com/lvo8tQjcME

But K-State players were still upset over the perceived snub as they spoke in the locker room.

“That’s not the sportsmanship you like to see, but that’s them,” Kansas State forward Levi Stockard told reporters in Atlanta. “They just walked off the court. I don’t know what it was. I don’t know.”

Another K-State player, Amaad Wainright, said he was looking forward to shaking the hand of a Hall of Fame coach, but said Calipari was nowhere to be found.

“It’s sorry … they know what they did,” Wainright said.

Calipari was pressed on the issue in his postgame media conference and this is what he said:

“Well, I went down to shake their hands, too, and they were turned and celebrating so that I walked off,” Calipari said according to the postgame transcript. “I had no disrespect for anything, just that they were celebrating and I was happy for them. I walked off, too. But I went down, I shook all the coaches’ hands, I went down to shake their hands — which I understood. They’re in an Elite Eight game now, a chance to go to the Final Four.”

“My team is not like that, neither is our program. There’s no disrespect in any way. They beat us. They deserved to win the game.”

Knowing how crazy and unrestrained a postgame celebration can be, we tend to side a little more with Kentucky on this one. If K-State players cared that much about the handshakes, they should have been in line behind their coach before celebrating with their own fans.